Q7. How are the puzzles graded?/Why did I find today's very hard puzzle easy?

The grading is based on the logic steps required to solve the puzzle. The requirement to use any of a number of pre-defined logic steps makes a puzzle hard, and needing "hard" logic more than a few times makes a puzzle very hard. Of course, difficulty is subjective. One person may find a particular type of logic easy, while another finds it really difficult. There are often only a relatively small number of "choke" points in even a very hard puzzle. If you happen to spot the "hard" steps quickly, then you'll fly through!

Am I the only one who thinks the above is so much BS

My Question: What constitutes a VH puzzle ... and ... How many "choke" points are too many?

I'm asking this so that I can provide puzzles more challenging than the VH from DailySudoku while not making them too difficult.

I'm asking this so that I can provide puzzles more challenging than the VH from DailySudoku while not making them too difficult.

Well, the VHs here are all supposed to be solvable with the use of X-, XY- and XYZ-Wings.

I would think knowing that would help you devise puzzles that are more challenging.

But without knowing anything about grading puzzles, I suspect it's a thankless task. I just did an Outlaw from Paul's Pages that required one easy-to-spot W-Wing and it took 10-15 minutes. Other puzzles of that rating are extremely difficult.

Of course, I've had the same experience with puzzles from every source I've used. Apparently it's something that goes with the territory.

Well, the VHs here are all supposed to be solvable with the use of X-, XY- and XYZ-Wings.

I would think knowing that would help you devise puzzles that are more challenging.

Many of my original puzzle submissions were solvable with 3-4 of the techniques you listed. What I recall getting for solutions were: chains, M-Wings, W-Wings, extended W-Wings, extended XY-Wings, transported wings, and URs beyond Type 1. I don't recall getting many replies saying that anyone had solved them using VH techniques. So, I started creating harder puzzles to reduce the number of single-stepper solutions.

Recently, I did an about-face and created the Set M series of puzzles that could be solved with basics or basics+ techniques. That set didn't get much interest, so I abandoned it.